Feds will fund beach erosion study

There's about $390,000 in the president's 2014 federal budget designated for the Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study.

ANNIE MARTINSTAFF WRITER

FLAGLER BEACH — There's "light at the end of the tunnel," at least from a financial perspective, for a long-running study of the city's persistent beach erosion problem. City commissioners heard during a regular meeting Thursday night that there's about $390,000 in the president's 2014 federal budget designated for the Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study. That money should get the study through a draft and final version and the peer review, City Manager Bruce Campbell said. The public likely will be able to review a draft of the study in September, he said. City and county officials learned from Corps engineers in April that the agency tentatively has selected a project that would cover a 2.8-mile stretch of Flagler Beach. The plan would add 10 feet of sand to the dunes and 10 feet of sand to the beach. Renourishing that section of beach over 50 years would cost $39.1 million today. It's not the only option officials have considered. City commissioners voted unanimously in March not to move forward with installing a Holmberg Technologies undercurrent stabilizer system. Many officials and residents previously said they were disappointed with a typo-laden, 44-page report about the system that cost $50,000. Holmberg wrote in the report he estimated his project would cost $10 million. On Thursday, city commissioners also approved three projects. Two are stormwater improvements in the Palma Vista subdivision and on South Flagler Avenue at a total cost of about $1 million. A $750,000 grant from the Florida Division of Emergency Management will pay for the bulk of the cost. The other, a boardwalk made of composite materials that will run through the central part of the city, will cost $629,236 but $608,256 will be paid for by a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation. The rest will be paid from city reserves. These projects will go out to bid by the end of the fiscal year, Campbell said. The commission typically is reluctant to dip into the city's reserves, Chairman Steve Settle said, but in this case, the city must do so to leverage the grant dollars. "This is something that's necessary to get a better reward," Settle said. City commissioners unanimously approved the audit for the 2011-12 fiscal year. The city received a "clean opinion" on its financial statements, said Cathy Liddy an accountant from Dufresne and Associates of Orange Park. The Funky Pelican restaurant at the Flagler Beach pier has surpassed the $1 million threshold for gross sales and has started paying 2 percent of its sales to the city, as is written in the restaurant's lease, Campbell said. Ray Barshay, the owner of the restaurant, rents the space from the city under a 10-year lease. Barshay started by paying $3,000 per month to the city in base rent. After two years, rent will increase by 3 percent annually. The restaurant opened in January.